"Those two watchmen will not protect you. I’m going to get you, in spite of them, in spite of your husband, in spite of all the forces with which you can oppose me. I want you—and I’m going to get you."
Nick Carter’s brows knit a little closer while he read this cowardly, threatening communication. Instead of returning it to his companion, he replaced the sheet in the typewritten envelope and slipped it into his pocket.
"I’ll keep it for the present, Mantell," he said simply. "Tell me, now, what more has occurred and what you have done about it."
"A few evenings later, Nick, or about a week ago, when Helen was partly disrobed for bed, she thought she heard a stealthy step outside of one of her windows. She stole into the next room and looked out."
"And discovered?"
"A man crouching on the veranda floor. He saw the lace draperies move when Helen parted them, and then heard the scream she tried in vain to suppress. He turned like a flash and leaped to the ground, then vanished in the gloom under the near trees. We found my wife in a faint on the floor. She was not mistaken, Nick, for the tracks of the miscreant were on the roof and in the driveway."
"Were the two watchmen then in your employ?"
"Yes."
"They did not see the intruder?"
"No. The cowardly cur is as elusive as a shadow. Helen is becoming a nervous wreck, while I——”